Fateful Timing in Veterans' Tragic Crash

Some Sacrificed Themselves for Spouses as Train Barreled Toward Their Ride; Parade Flags End Up Shrouding Bodies

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A flatbed truck carries wounded veterans and their families during a parade before it was struck by a train on Thursday in Midland, Texas.
Reporter-Telegram/Associated Press

By

Ana Campoy and

Tamara Audi

Updated Nov. 16, 2012 8:04 p.m. ET

MIDLAND, Texas—The flatbed truck carrying a group of wounded veterans and their wives was easing its way across a railroad crossing, when suddenly the crossing lights flashed, and a gate came down on the back end of the trailer.

A freight train slammed into a parade float carrying wounded veterans in Midland, Texas, on Thursday, killing four. In a briefing Friday, the National Transportation Safety Board describes its investigation into the accident.

A train horn sounded. A Special Forces veteran shouted for people to jump. Retired Army Sgt. Joshua Michael pushed his wife of 15 years to safety as men and women stumbled and leaped off the flatbed. Seconds later, a 7,243-foot long freight train slammed into the truck at 62 miles per hour.

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After attending to the wounded, bystanders pulled American flags off of the float, and veterans draped them over the bodies of the dead.

The day after a collision that killed four people, including Sgt. Michael, and wounded 17 veterans and their spouses during a parade, more details emerged about the victims and the events immediately preceding the crash. Officials for the National Transportation Safety Board arrived at the scene Friday to begin unraveling how the tragedy occurred and what could have been done to prevent it.

Photos: Train Tragedy at Veterans Parade in Texas

Officials respond after a trailer carrying wounded veterans in a parade was struck by a train in Midland, Texas, on Thursday. Tim Fischer/Reporter-Telegram/Associated Press

An NTSB spokesman said investigators haven't determined whether the crossing signals were working properly at the time of the accident. A Union Pacific Corp.UNP-0.11% spokesman said the train company's own preliminary findings showed the equipment was functioning properly.

Investigators may be able to determine the sequence of events relatively quickly because the train was equipped with a forward-facing video camera and a "black box" digital recorder showing speed, throttle or brake actions and other factors. If both systems survived the crash, they will provide crucial details.

Depending on what investigators discover, the Midland accident could rekindle the debate about rail safety that has flared up several times in recent years after fatal accidents in California and Washington, D.C.

There were 10 collisions between 1979 and 1997 at the Midland crossing where Thursday's deaths occurred, none that involved fatalities, the NTSB spokesman said. The Union Pacific train involved in the collision began its trip in Los Angeles. Its final destination was Shreveport, La., officials said.

On Wednesday, 25 wounded veterans and their wives began arriving in Midland from across the country for a weekend full of events to honor their service. The veterans, many of them with severe burns or amputated limbs, were greeted at the airport by residents carrying U.S. flags, assigned local escorts, and accompanied to events. Wherever they went, they got a police escort.

"What this town does for veterans is amazing," said Pam Shoemaker, who attended the event with her husband, U.S. Army Sgt. Tommy Shoemaker.

On Thursday, the veterans and their wives were assigned seats strapped to two flatbed trucks for a parade through town, on the way to a banquet in their honor. Families gathered along the route to cheer them.

The first truck crossed the train tracks with no problem. But when the Shoemakers looked back, they saw the warning lights begin to flash after the second truck began to cross.

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Bystanders at the scene in Midland, Texas, where a trailer carrying wounded veterans in a parade was struck by a train.
Associated Press

The cab of the truck had already crossed the rails, and it didn't appear to be stuck on the tracks, eyewitnesses said.

Ms. Reyes, a dance-team member for a local minor-league football club, the West Texas Drillers, rode in a pickup truck behind two flatbeds. She watched the rig that was pulling the second flatbed head over the tracks, moving slowly to keep the passengers from falling. She saw the arm of the crossing gate drop. In a matter of seconds, she said, the train came through.

In the seconds before the impact, Sgt. Michael pushed his wife off the truck in time to save her life, but not his own, said Aimée Rogers of Amarillo, a longtime friend of Mr. Michael, 34, and his wife, Daylyn. "Josh was a hero," Ms. Rogers said.

After the collision, Sgt. Shoemaker, whose leg was injured during tours in the Middle East, jumped off his flatbed and ran to the aid of the wounded. Sgt. Shoemaker attended to the wife of a veteran he had served with in Panama. Her leg was later amputated, he said. Her husband sustained back injuries.

"It's one thing for soldiers to see each other killed. We're talking about our families here," Sgt. Shoemaker said Friday, his voice strained with exhaustion. "Our families are who we're protecting when we're over there. And we couldn't protect them."

Sgt. Shoemaker said he frantically began driving ambulances across the tracks to get them closer to the wounded, and all the veterans who could helped to triage the victims.

"We covered the bodies with flags before they were moved. The local people formed a wall around us so nobody would see," Sgt. Shoemaker said. "I told them I'm not leaving without the flags. So they took my cutters and took them down and helped me fold them all."

On Friday, Sgt. Shoemaker was helping arrange for the transportation of the body of a fellow veteran back to his home state, and comforting his friend, whose wife had lost her leg. He is worried about how families will come up with enough money for funeral arrangements, and to support themselves. But he couldn't help also thinking about the man driving the flatbed truck that was hit, a young soldier who wore his uniform for the occasion.

"I can't even imagine what that kid is going through," Sgt. Shoemaker said. "He was devastated. It blows me away that he's going to have to live with this."

Thomas Kim, the father-in-law of one of the fatal victims, Sgt. Maj. William Lubbers, said he was glad the NTSB is involved "so we can find out exactly what happened. Someone must be to blame for this and held responsible."

Mark Rosekind, an NTSB board member, said at a news conference Friday that investigators would be looking at a variety of factors, from the timing of the signal system to the truck driver's credentials and health.

He said the investigation has rendered limited information so far. One finding was that the south-side gate was destroyed, although he declined to speculate what that might indicate.

He said the train was traveling at 62 miles per hour in a 70 miles-per-hour zone, although it was unclear whether trains are required to slow down when going through a crossing point. Mr. Rosekind said the train engineers activated the emergency brake, but that investigators haven't determined when that happened.

The area is a "quiet zone," he said, meaning that there are restrictions on horn blowing.

He said local authorities had notified his agency that there was a power outage during part of Thursday, adding that the probe will look into any potential ties to the accident.

Mr. Rosekind said the investigators would look into whether local authorities and the organizers of the parade followed the required procedures for such events.

Janet Scott, member of one of the local chapters of Veterans of Foreign Wars, said she has participated in the parade several years, and it has always been along the same route.

It wasn't clear Friday whether the parade organizers knew—or could have known—that the train was due to come through town at the time of the parade. Ms. Scott said her group believed that no train was due until 7 p.m. However, a spokesman for the Federal Railroad Administration said freight trains "don't run on schedule. They run on demand." Parade organizers would "have to contact the railroad to know to expect the train."

Even if organizers of a parade try in advance to coordinate with the railroad, "there's no way for us to know" when a train would arrive at a specific intersection, a UP spokesman said.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the community, veterans and family members involved," Union Pacific Chief Executive Jack Koraleski said in a statement.

Dozens of people gathered at a downtown square Friday morning to honor the victims. Midland Mayor Wes Perry asked for a moment of silence as he read the names of the dead one by one: Retired U.S. Army Sgt. Joshua Michael. U.S. Marine Corps Chief Warrant Officer Gary Stouffer. Retired U.S. Army Sgt. Major Lawrence Boivin. U.S. Army Sgt. Major William Lubbers.

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